DHHS mum on food stamp backlog as deadline looms

Wos

By The Associated Press

Published: Monday, February 10, 2014 at 05:35 PM.

RALEIGH — Officials at the state Department of Health and Human Services are declining to say whether they have successfully cleared a backlog of food stamp applications as a federal deadline approaches.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave North Carolina until Monday to process a backlog of more than 23,000 food stamp applications and renewals that had been pending for more than 90 days. The applications are supposed to be processed by law within 30 days. Failure to meet the deadline could result in the loss of millions in federal funding.

The state has struggled for months to process a backlog of food stamp applications resulting from a faulty update with its NC FAST software.

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RALEIGH — Officials at the state Department of Health and Human Services are declining to say whether they have successfully cleared a backlog of food stamp applications as a federal deadline approaches.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave North Carolina until Monday to process a backlog of more than 23,000 food stamp applications and renewals that had been pending for more than 90 days. The applications are supposed to be processed by law within 30 days. Failure to meet the deadline could result in the loss of millions in federal funding.

The state has struggled for months to process a backlog of food stamp applications resulting from a faulty update with its NC FAST software.